Disneyland Paris Snowglobe

Maurice left a comment the other day on this older post about the Disneyland Paris parade series which linked to this picture of another 15th anniversary globe. I was aware of this great snowglobe but did not have a picture which did it justice until now. Thanks Maurice.

Donald, Is that you?

I've had different people identify this globe as a Donald Duck, but I remain not totally convinced. While its true the character inside is wearing an outfit similar to Donald's the character itself looks more like a chicken or rooster. It's from Japan and possibly form the 1940's. Is it Donald? Is it Disney? Is it an unauthorized globe trying to use Donald's popularity? Or does it have nothing to do with Disney and the outfit is coincidence?

Disney snowdomes - matched set

We like to compare similar globes and notice the differences. Disneyland and Walt Disney World often use the same design with slight changes. Sometimes the only change is the name of the resort on the globe. Disney seems to be determined to do more and more of this in their merchandising efforts and it wouldn't surprise me to find the same globes in all 5 Resorts someday.

I thought this was something recently implemented in the last few years but this picture from Hank Millett proves me wrong.

The 2nd picture is one that I grabbed off ebay quite awhile back. Lousy picture but it clearly shows a 3rd version of the same snowdome.

Disney Snowglobes- Free Refills?

I've been thinking lately about snowglobes and how the liquid inside vanishes over time because of atmosphere and heat conditions. Many of the plastic snowdomes have refill plugs and yet the big super deluxe expensive globes do not. Why not? Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to build a tube into the base through which a syringe or something could be inserted to put more water into a globe. Or perhaps instead of the globe being whole, the finial could be a cork. Ha! I guess maybe that wouldn't work so good if you had to shake the globe but it might work on one with a blower.
Perhaps its a safety issue of some sort.
Has anyone ever experimented with a globe to try and fill it back up with liquid? Just curious. I wouldn't reccomend you try as you could end up breaking the globe. I've read about at least one person who can repair globes so it can be done if you know what your doing, I guess.

Disney Snowglobes - New deluxe mini's

New at the Disney UK site are these 3 deluxe mini snowglobes. Stitch, Snow White and Nemo.

How to save an additional 4% at DisneyShopping.com

Any experienced buyer at DisneyShopping.com knows to search for discount codes before you buy and to wait for the item to be on sale. In my case I also use the Disney Visa card so I can get free stuff.
Ok, here comes the commercial but bear with me I wouldn't be mentioning it here if I didn't believe it was worth your time.
I've been told about ebates. You sign in at their site before you shop, use their links to go to the store you were allready going to and buy stuff like you normally would with your account, discounts, codes etc. Why? Because they give you cash back on almost all your purchases. In the case of DisneyShopping.com you get 4% back. They have over 800 stores you can shop at and almost all of them give you cash back. Even wal-mart gives you 1%. Tired of buying expensive printer cartridges? Get 16% back. I'll very likely be switching my book buying from Amazon to Barnes and Noble because of this.
The more money you save the more you have to spend on snowglobes!
If your not impressed or happy with this site, I apologize for wasting your time but if your economics is anything like mine right now every little bit helps.
Clicking this link, will take you to their site, put $5 in your rebate account and $5 in mine, but that's not why I'm referring you. I was going to post about it anyway before I found that out just because it is a way to save another 4% on Disney snowglobes.

Sword in the Stone artwork

Sergio has sent me the concept drawing from the Sword in the Stone box. Nice! The box is the same golden color as the other boxes in this series. I changed the coloring and contrast so we could see the drawing better.
Remember Juan Ortiz' blog "DisneyStoreShelves"? I loved the concept artwork he was showing on that site but foolishly didn't bother to save any of the pictures before the blog was stopped. Anybody have pictures they could share with me?

Sword in the Stone Snowglobe - breaking news

Our friend Sergio from Brazil writes in with the revelation that the above globe currently available at DisneyShopping.com and the Disney UK site is a limited edition of 600. He recieved his and it comes with a Certificate of Authenticity that is individually numbered just like the Snow White and Bedknobs and Broomsticks ones. Nowhere on either site, did Disney reveal that this was a limited edition.
This , of course, raises some questions:

• Why on earth would Disney not state that it was a limited edition?
• Are there other globes currently for sale that are limited editions?

Sergio also reports that the Fantasia globe does not play "The Sorceror's Apprentice" and that the Hercules globes plays "Go the Distance" not "Zero to Hero" as the Disney site claims. These may be isolated cases but it seems unlikely he would recieve two different globes playing the wrong music.

Thanks Sergio

Snow White snowglobe

I'm having trouble keeping track of the snowglobes on Disney Shopping. With them reintroducing so many old globes, I have a hard time knowing for sure if the globe is a new recreation or not. I used to be able to tell that something was new just because I hadn't seen it before.
This one of Snow White is now available for $79.50. It was originally available in the 1997-1999 catalogs and sold for $95.00. At least the price went down.

Cinderella Hourglass Snowglobe

I documented this Cinderella hourglass snowglobe quite awhile ago for my book, Thus, when I see it on ebay I don't pay a whole lot of attention to it. The picture below recently appeared on ebay and the color difference is obvious. There is obviously a color variation here. The above picture was taken from a Disney website. Is there a true color difference or is the one Disney took pictures of a prototype or artists proof and not the final version that was created? Does anybody own the one with the earthtone coloring?

Happy Easter

I found this picture of a Fisher Price pull toy on the web but I'm not sure where. Have a Happy Easter.

Disney Snowdomes from Sears

These deluxe plastic snowdomes were purchased at Sears. That's pretty much all I know about them. That's Mickey Mouse as an astronaut in the last one. Can anyone provide more information about when they were available? Were they exclusive to Sears? Pictures by Hank Millett.

Disney's Pride Rock snowglobe tops $1000 on ebay

The Pride Rock snowglobe sold for over $1000 today on ebay. The Top Ten list has been updated.

Disney Snowglobes - Nothing New

No new Disney snowglobes. The only new ones seem to be coming from other sources. Has Disney itself gotten out of the snowglobe business? There has not been a new Disney snowglobe produced since Christmas in the USA. Everything at DisneyShopping.com has been overstock from the UK, remakes of old globes or from outside sources like Precious Moments or Lenox or the non-Disney run Disney Stores. Today it's being reported that Children's Place is negotiating with Disney to take back most of the stores in North America. While I think Disney should run its own stores, I haven't been very impressed with the merchandise at the parks lately so I doubt it would lead to any immediate gain in quality. I believe the last new globe at the theme parks was the small 2008 globe that was released before Christmas. Nothing for St Patricks Day. Nothing for Easter.
While this all makes it easier for me for tracking and fact compiling for my book, it sure makes for a boring blog post.

Disney Snowglobes - The Top Ten

Just added a Pinocchio snowglobe into The Top Ten list. Now, there is only one globe on the list that hasn't topped $400. The link to the top ten page is on the sidebar.

Disney snowdomes

The top picture I recently recieved from Hank Millett. A few days later, I recieved the book "Collectors Guide to Snow Domes Identification & Values" which was published in 1994 by Scroeder Publishing Co. In her book, Helene Guarnaccia, mentions that the dome must be reissued every year because she has seen it in stores for years. The bottom picture I scanned from it's pages. Obviously two different versions of the same thing so at some point in time the figures changed. Any other versions out there?

New Disney Snowglobes - Jelly Globes

These 5 Disney snowglobes are from Simson gifts and are available at Walgreens right now. They are the soft squishable kind called jelly globes or bubble globes. They light up and change colors.
The Walgreens I got these at still had the Easter globes and cheap snowdomes that I mentioned earlier. Still couldn't find a Cars dome that hadn't leaked all its water out. The cups they had seemed to be mostly gone. I saw 2.

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from Walt Disney, Darby O'Gill, King Brian and me.

Alice Returns

This popular globe has been sold out at Walt Disney World for quite awhile but is now back in stock. If you missed it the first time (like me) you might want to grab it. It is extremely nice and sells fast. It can be spun by hand.

snowglobe boxes

I've mentioned these before but really didn't know anything about them. They are part of a series of 6 but the other three are not Disney characters. They are Bugs Bunny, Raggedy Ann and Popeye. They are 5" tall and the front item inside the dome slides back and forth. In Donald's case it is a figure of Pluto.

Today's photographs courtesy of Hank Millett.

The boxes look like this. If you happen to have a box for any in the series, please let me know.

I also would be very much interested in knowing what company made these. The Disney boxes say Walt Disney Productions but obviously thay are not the maufacturer since the other characters in the line are non-Disney.

What the Heck?

According to this closed ebay auction, this Disney snowglobe of the Fab 5 raking leaves sold for $10,000. Ummmm. ???? This seems highly unlikely. Any thoughts?

Disney Snowglobes - Minnie Mouse Snowdome cups

This cute Minnie Mouse snowdome cup is now for sale on DisneyShopping.com. It is different then the

pink one they did have.

How to make a snowdome in Germany.

There is a company in Germany called Koziol that has been making snowdomes for many years. They call theirs Dream Globes. This is a link to a page on their website that shows a very brief step by step process in the creation of one.

Disney Snowdomes - Huey Dewey and Louie

Hank continues to send me some wonderful pictures of his collection. My love of the Disney ducks forces me to share this one of Donald's nephews as they appear in these snowdomes from Germany.

Disney Snowglobe mistakes

The most recent batch of pictures I recieved from Hank Millett included these two. The top picture is obviously a mistake with Mickey on a Minnie base. The fact that the Mickey figure matches the Minnie figure leads me to believe there may be a matching Mickey globe but Hank informs me he has never seen one even though he has 4500 globes. My research thus far has not seen either the Minnie or a Mickey one to match.
Hank feels the mistake globe could be quite valuable. What does everyone else think? As a collector would you pay more for a globe like this? Does anyone own any other mistakes?

New Disney Snowglobes

These 3 Disney snowglobes that Velvet gave us sneak peeks of are now available for purchase on DisneyShopping.com

Vintage Disney Snowdomes

My recent ebay listings lead to recieving an email from Hank Millett. He has a collection of vintage Disney snowdomes and wondered if I would be interested in his help with my book. As that guy on Jack Benny used to say..."OoooHHHH Would I!!!! And so we present the first 3 pictures he has sent me. He did a wonderful job of capturing the detail in these photos.

These three were made by a company called Monogram Products who began as a Disney licensee in 1972. Since the Disney tv show was titled "The Wonderful World of Disney from 1969 to 1979 that would seem to date these domes from 1972-1979. The company still exists today as Monogram International and is still a Disney licensee. You can download their 2007 catalog here, but they apparently don't make snowdomes at this time.

It's A Small World After All Department: I used to buy things from Monogram at the company I used to work for that stocks the prize games in the Walt Disney World arcades. Many of their smaller products such as keychains can be won in the Sports Arena arcade games in the Disney arcades and other arcades around central florida.

Walt Disneyana World

Walt Disneyana World is a relatively new blog that I just discovered. It fits my criteria to add to my link sidebar as it is updated often and discusses Disneyana. It's one I will be visiting daily.

Disney Snowglobes - Top Ten Update

Lots of high prices showing up on ebay the last few days. There is definitely a trend of higher prices for the hourglass series. Cinderella has fallen off the Top Ten but the Sleeping Beauty hourglass comes in at the #10 spot for $346.02. There have been two or three others that have sold above $200.
A Little Mermaid "Kiss the Girl" globe debuts at #4 spot for over $500 and Pride Rock appears at the #2 spot for over $700! The previous high price that I recorded for Pride Rock was around $140.
Check out the Top Ten list for pictures and details. The link is in the sidebar.

vintage Christmas snowdome

Now appearing in an ebay auction (not mine) is this vintage snowdome of Minnie with Santa Claus done by the Louis Marx company in 1961. This is the first Christmas one I've seen from this series which leads me to believe there must be others especially since Minnie is the character that is used. While there's certainly no reason not to use Minnie, it hardly seems likely that she would be the only character done.

Oops!

Well, some of those sneak peeks are allready up on DisneyShopping.com. I guess I should check before I hit that publish button. Here are pics of what's new at DisneyShopping.com.